


The Mothman Chronicles

by xJustxLivingxLifex



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dib and Zim are bros, Eventual Romance, M/M, Older Characters, Other, Show Never Happened, Slash, Slow Build, Xeno, but more Action/Adenture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-05
Updated: 2015-11-22
Packaged: 2017-12-31 13:42:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1032361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xJustxLivingxLifex/pseuds/xJustxLivingxLifex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dib, a.k.a. Agent Mothman, was only trying to find proof of intelligent extraterrestrial life, but with a partner like Bill things of course get difficult. Gaz just wanted the annoying green kid to stop trying to steal her Game Slave. When races clash Dib decides to enter the fight for the freedom of the universe. It's just too bad he’s surrounded by idiots.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: What are the Odds?

The glare from the screens should have been blinded him, but after staring at them for hours straight he had become immune to the harshness of the light in the dark room. As it was, the monitors had provided the only source of light for the room’s sole inhabitant to work in. The booming sounds that sprang from the headphones covering his ears worked to drown out the silence. At first the celestial sounds had instilled a sense of hope and humility within him, but as hours passed they lost their grandeur and acted more as white noise as he continued his search. He muttered the coordinates of the next sector under his breath and bent over to adjust the dials of the scanners to their new position. 

Distracted by his task, he never noticed the sound of another’s footsteps as they neared his seat until an unexpected grip on his shoulder jolted him from his work. He jumped back in his seat causing his chair to skid back and nearly bring the expensive equipment with him. Cursing, he slipped off his headphones and rushed forward to push the equipment back properly onto the desk. Relieved that everything seemed fine he turned to face whoever would interrupt his work.

“What the--- oh, Agent Darkbootie. What are you still doing here? I thought you would have gone home by now.” Adjusting his glasses, he smiled up at his mentor’s scruffy face as the older man cocked his eyebrow questioningly. 

“I had some samples to organize before heading out, but what are you still doing here?” he asked casting the other a reproachful look. “You should have left hours ago” he continued as the younger man frowned slightly before turning his back to him to look back at the screens. 

“Just a few more sectors, and then I can-“ 

“Dib,” his mentor interrupted sharply, but calmed as he continued. “It’s time to go. Hell, everyone else took off hours ago.” Exasperated, Dib shook his head and stared at the screens. “No can do sir; it took me forever to convince the Agent Tunaghost to let me in here, and even then I can only use the equipment once her team is done.” Seeing his mentor’s frown he hastily apologized. “I mean, I really appreciate her letting me use it at all really so I’m just trying to catch as much time with it as I can. It’s not everyday a guy gets to play with equipment like this” he stated gesturing to screens. 

“Boy, I don’t want you running yourself into the ground with all this. You’re not even a full agent yet! Just leave it to me, I’m sure I can talk Tunaghost into giving you more time with” Darkbootie gestured awkwardly to the screens in front of Dib, “whatever this is.” 

Dib pushed away the embarrassed discomfort he felt at being reminded of his junior-agent status to instead excitedly explain to his mentor the complicated system of equipment before him. “Those sensors are sensitive to electromagnetic radiation in space, and this here converts the radiation into audible sounds” he stated as he eagerly pointed out each component. “My own scanners give the equipment a power boost that allows me to pinpoint sectors of space to examine. And, finally, this little guy here records everything so nothing is lost.” He finished, pointing to the small zip-drive connected to the computer.

“Uh huh, and that means what?” Darkbootie asked, seemingly impressed by his protégée if not completely lost. Dib tried to contain his smirk, but the look on his mentor’s face told him he failed.

“Essentially," he explained "I am listening to space.” 

“Are you serious boy? That’s astounding.” Darkbootie said, suitably god-smacked. “How on earth did Tunaghost manage to get her hands on this?” 

“It’s pretty amazing isn’t it? I had a hard time concentrating at first because it was just so cool. Word is she has a contact at SETI that hooked her up, though I don’t know why a Bermuda Triangle researcher would want something like this. Personally” Dib admitted, “I think she is just trying to show off.”

He paused for a moment to look back at the computer, wavelengths still dancing across the screen. “It’s perfect for my work though, just imagine if I could find audible proof of ETL.” After a moment Dib’s eager smile turned forlorn and he sighed. “It’s stupid though, space is just too… big. Chances of me finding any sort of proof of intelligent life are less than 0.01 percent over four billion years. I could search my entire life a million times over and still find nothing.” He confessed dejectedly before he adjusted the dials of the scanners again to a new sector. Darkbootie gave him an understanding look before patting his shoulder and gesturing him to stand up. 

“I know it seems hopeless boy, but you keep it up. Even if you don’t succeed, you never know what you might stumble into trying.” He stated seriously, before he smiled down at the younger man. “Now help a senior agent to his car and he may be persuaded to pick up some take out for his best student.”

Knowing his mentor was right Dib slipped off his headphones and set them down on the table. It was late and his sister had the car for the day, if he wanted a ride home this was his only chance. His stomach growled as he remembered just how long ago it had been since he had last eaten. Reaching his decision he nodded and stood to follow his mentor out. 

‘Tomorrow’, he thought. Tomorrow he would come in early and continue where he left off, but for tonight he was done. He was so distracted from his fatigue and hunger he forgot to shut down any of the equipment. As he locked the door the equipment continued to run and the booming sounds springing from the headphones were soon accompanied by a strange chirping sound as the sensors picked up a very special transmission, a transmission intended to let all of its species know that the invasion had begun.


	2. Of Meetings and Pizza

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dib gets some bad news, some good news, and a new toy.

Chapter 1: Of Meetings and Pizza

'…In conclusion the Swollen Eyeball has found that Agent Mothman has offered no compelling evidence to support his proposal that the audible recordings presented are evidence of possible alien life. After further review the Board has decided that the Eyeball can no longer waste its resources on such a fruitless endeavor. A new case file and partner will be assigned to you shortly. If you have any questions…'

“Please see your superior. Blah, blah, blah.” 

Dib stomped down the hall from the conference room still furious from his proposal review. The folder which contained the last six years of his sweat and blood was clenched in his trembling fists as he shoved his passed other agents muttering under his breath. Some glared at him with disapproval while few others offered looks of understanding, having heard from the gossip vine what had happened. Nobody tried to stop him as he made his way back towards the labs’ division though, afraid that his consuming anger would be unleashed onto them.

‘Why won’t they listen to me?’ he thought. ‘They wouldn’t even see reason.’

His review had gone much worse than he had suspected, much worse. He lost his team, his funding, and all his equipment -his entire project scrapped. Though not said aloud, it was also believed that it was only through Darkbootie’s request to the Board that he held on to his full-agent status. To think that all his hard work in the last six years had meant so little to the Board was demoralizing o say the least. So lost in his self-pity he didn’t notice that one agent was not afraid to approach him as they ran up behind him, waving their arm back and forth to try and grab his attention.

“Hey Mothman, wait up! I’ve heard about what happened. Too bad man, too bad, but I guess that’s what you get when you waste the Eyeball’s resources listening to a bunch of bugs.” Dib gritted his teeth as the other sauntered up next to him with a satisfied smirk. 

“They were not bugs Disembodied Head.” He snapped, quickening his pace to try and distance himself from the other. The other agent easily matched his pace and his smirk seem to grow larger -if that was possible.

“Oh, that’s right, what did those guys from the Membrane Institute call it again? Hm… Oh yeah, it was something like ‘Atmospheric Noise Interference’ right? Discharge from lightning storms they said.” The agent laughed as if they were sharing some big joke and when Dib resolved to ignore him he laughed harder. Relief filled Dib as he finally reached his destination. Stopping at a pair of office doors he turned and glared at the other agent, whose mirth seemed to finally be losing some steam. 

“Goodbye Bill, I have work to do.” Dib lied, ready to slip inside the other room to get away from the man. However, before he could even pull the door open the other agent, Bill, slammed his hand on the door to forcibly shut it. Bill grinned down at the slightly shorter man, his sunglasses shifting down his nose. 

“Sorry Dibbers, but I’m not done yet. It is my duty, and pleasure, to inform you that the Board has decided that, since your bug fiasco cost the Eyeball so much time and money, you and your so-called ‘skills’ will be reassigned to work with me on my next case.” Bill said, clearly enjoying the look of pure horror that crossed Dib’s face.

“You’re kidding me.” Dib whispered, desperation filling his voice. “They don’t seriously expect us to work together do they?” Bill shrugged carelessly before tossing a case file Dib didn’t even see him carrying at Dib’s chest. 

“Starting Monday you and I will be working the Count Cocofang case, so be ready Dibbers, ‘cause now I’m in charge.” With a final grin Bill stepped away, presumably to go brag to everyone in the break room how he finally got one over on Agent Mothman. 

For as long as Dib could remember Bill had hated him, and he made no effort to hide his hatred from anyone –especially Dib. Every chance he got he went out of his way to show how Dib failed as an agent and had even petitioned multiple times for Dib to be removed from the Swollen Eyeball network. The irony was that Bill was considered to be the worst agent in the Swollen Eyeball. He had not solved hardly any of his cases throughout the years and made a constant fool of himself, both in and out of the field. It was rumored around the office that the only reason he was still an agent was because of his own mentor, Agent Nessie. Before Dib had ever been picked by Darkbootie to join the Swollen Eyeball, Agent Nessie had selected Bill as her own protégée, and over the years had used her influence in the Board to keep Bill from getting the boot. That the Board had partnered Bill with the worst agent they had showed Dib just had far he had fallen in their eyes. 

Dib frowned at the other’s retreating back while he struggled to balance the added case file with his arms already filled by his own research. He barely managed to pry open the door for a second before both the files slipped out of his hands and scattered papers all across the floor. 

“Fuck, really?!” he grumbled in frustration before dropping to his knees to sort through the papers.  
As he sorted he switched between cursing Bill and lamenting over his own terrible luck; this was seriously not turning out to be his day. 

“Tough meeting?” Darkbootie asked from his desk watching his student in the doorway sift through the mess he had made. With a groan he lifted himself from his chair and slowly crossed the room to offer his assistance. Dib snorted, looking frenzied as he switched from one paper to the next.

“My proposal has been denied and my project discontinued” he explained, sounding much calmer than he looked. “The Board has also decided it is better worth their time if I’m in the field full-time than down here in the labs.”

“Now boy, it can’t be all-“ 

“They partnered me with Bill.” Dib interrupted with a deadpanned stare and even Darkbootie barely held back his grimaced as he handed Dib the last few papers to sort. 

“That idget is still an agent?” He asked in surprise and Dib nodded looking positively miserable as they finished gathering up the paperwork into the appropriate folders. After helping his mentor stand back up he handed the man his cane before picking the now sorted filing up off the floor. 

“What am I going to do? They’ll never believe my recordings are real without physical proof. What do they expect me to do, just hand them an alien with a bow on top?” He slammed the files down on his mentor’s desk staring at the papers sticking out haphazardly from their messy resorting. Taking a sheet out of his research file he gazed down at the data sternly. “I know this is real, I just need to prove it.”

Darkbootie looked over Dib’s shoulder at the findings with a scowl. Dib wasn’t the only one crushed by his failure to convince the Board that the case was legitimate, but, as he had cautioned Dib in the beginning, the Board only funded the most auspicious research and it was not uncommon for them to cut funding if the work no longer seemed profitable. Dib wasn’t the first to lose his backing in favor of more promising projects and he certainly wouldn’t be the last

“Perhaps this will do you some good.” He stated as he moved around his desk to dig through his own stacks of documents. “You’ve been staring at those papers too long, been listening to those chirps nonstop since you first heard them. You need to give yourself a rest and come at it with fresh eyes. In the mean time,” he straightened in his seat as he pulled out the file he had been searching for, “come look at these.”

Dib leaned over to look at the several sheets of data Darkbootie laid out in the center of his desk. A part of him was upset that his mentor didn’t seem as affected by the news as he was, but he reminded himself that Agent Darkbootie had been involved in the Swollen Eyeball for many years and had probably seen this happen before. Besides, another larger part of him was just glad for the detraction. As he looked over the data sheets he quickly realized that he wasn’t sure what he was looking at. He spent several moments trying to read the data, confusion flickering across his face. 

“What is this?” He slowly asked finally lifting his eyes to you back at his mentor.

“That,” Darkbootie said pointing to the first sheet “is data collected from Voyager 1 currently in route through the heliopause. The other two are from Voyager 2 at the heliosteath and New Horizons near Pluto. As you can see, correlations between the temperature and pressure data recently taken suggest something may have passed by them all recently.”

“Meteor?” Dib guessed as he compared the different data. Now that he knew what he was looking at he could see what Darkbootie was talking about. “But, wait how is that even possible? They are nowhere even close to each other.”

“I know.” Darkbootie agreed. “Reports even show that whatever it was may have passed them several times even.”

“That’s… that’s impossible.” Dib whispered in astonishment 

“Yes, it should be” Darkbootie nodded seriously to his student. “And it is now headed straight for Earth.” 

“Of course it is” Dib murmured in shock falling back into the seat across from Darkbootie. “So should we be getting prepared for the end of the world or what? What’s the ETA?” He stole a glance at the other’s somber face. “And why don’t people know about this?!” 

Dib’s question broke Darkbootie’s stern gaze as he chuckled and shook his head at his student’s foolishness. “How long have you been here boy? And you still get up in arms when you find out how unaware the public is? Now Mothman, you should know better by now.” 

After taking a moment to compose himself Darkbootie leaned back in his chair and scratched his beard. “Now, while this UFO is unusual to say the least, it doesn’t seem as though it will pose a threat to public. Reports show it is much too small to cause any real harm, and most of it will likely burn up in the atmosphere. It was agreed among the higher circles that we would keep this under wraps until we figure out what exactly we will be dealing with.”

Dib slouched in the chair, embarrassed by the chastising his mentor had given him. Darkbootie was right after all, he should now better by now, but still at time it amazed him just how oblivious people were to what was really happening in the world. Nodding along as Darkbootie spoke he stopped as a thought struck him.

“Wait, if only the higher ups know about this, then, why are you telling me?”

His mentor grinned widely before pulling out another folder from his stack to present to Dib. Curious, Dib opened the folder to see a case assignment sheet with his name on top. Suddenly he felt as if the floor had disappeared from under him.

“Y-you’re kidding me right?” He stuttered out, reading his name over and over again to convince himself if it was real. Darkbootie laughed at his student’s shock before indicating Dib to read on.

“Well you see boy, I can’t move around like I used to; these old bones you know. The Board agreed it would be best if a younger agent were to accompany me to the landing site, and when I reminded them I already had an eager student…” Darkbootie mumbled, making his arms and torso tremble and squinting his eyes as if he had trouble seeing. Dib snickered at the picture Darkbootie created, reminding himself that his mentor could be quite the fabricator when he wanted to be.

“But what about the Count Cocofang case? What about Bill?” Dib asked looking hopeful that maybe he could get out of the case after all.

“Oh, you’ll still be working that. I tried talking them out of assigning you field work like that, but they would hear of it –though I didn’t know they would assign you to Agent Disembodied Head of all people! No, consider this a little side project. A secret little side project” Darkbootie stressed. “Understand me boy?” 

“Yes sir” Dib sighed softly, dejected that he would still be stuck working with Bill, but happy that he had some good news at least. If the Board still entrusted him with an assignment like this, then maybe he hadn’t fallen as far as he thought. Content with this, he reviewed the documents in the case file and skimmed over the objectives. 

“This says the landing is estimated to happen sometime within the next two weeks in the Himalayan Mountains. How exactly are we supposed to get there?”

“Based on how unpredictable this UFO is acting, we have no way of knowing when and where exactly it will land. The Swollen Eyeball network has elite teams stationed all over the globe prepared to swoop in at a moment’s notice whenever and wherever it decides to hit, and when that moment comes you and I will go on a nice mentor/student ‘fishing trip’ to collect samples to bring back here.” 

Dib faltered at that, concerned at the believability of their alibi. “A ‘fishing trip’? Really?”

“People around here know enough by now to not ask questions” Darkbootie countered giving his student a meaningful look. He reached into his desk, digging around for a moment before pulling out what almost looked like a Smartphone of some type. “This contraption is supposedly connected to the Eyeball’s satellite network and can monitor the UFO when it comes in range, only I can’t figure out for the life of me how to work it.” He handed the device over to Dib who stared at it in wonder. “You take it, you’re a smart kid so I’m sure you can work it. Use that to monitor the UFO and when it hits you give me the call, got it?” 

“Yes sir! Thank you sir!” Dib readily agreed, swooning over the device he had clutched to his chest. Darkbootie smiled to himself at his student’s eagerness then waving his hand to dismiss him.

“Now, don’t go getting a big head over this. The Board is watching you, and if you slip up on either case because of this, they’ll stick you on desk duty for the next two years.”

“I won’t sir, I’ll read the case files right away! Thank you so much for this.” He gushed as he stood, collecting all three of his folders before making his way out the door, tripping over himself as he stumbled towards the door. 

He floated off to his cubicle, device was tucked away discreetly in his pocket while his arms were wrapped tightly around his multiple files. When he reached his desk he carefully locked away his own research in the secured drawer before sitting down to review the two new case files on the desk. He wrestled with himself until ultimately deciding it would probably be for the best if he looked through the Count Cocofang file first. He forced himself to open the file and examine the notes, though he grimaced at the attached picture of an obese middle-aged man in a vampire costume. ‘If it isn’t the Count himself’ he thought before tucking the photo back behind the folder. 

It was an excruciating time, but somehow he found the strength to finish the article. Soon enough he was able to move on to the UFO file, which went by much more smoothly than the first. He quickly lost himself to the data, and, before he knew it it was time to head home. Securing the files away in his desk he stretched his arms up and stood, heading out the office towards the employee entrance. Making his way out he noticed plenty of the other agents staring at him from their cubicles as they too prepared to leave. After waving at the few more friendly face he ducked down and shuffled off through the crowd until he was finally out in the parking garage. 

As he walked towards his car he grimaced when he thought about dinner that night. It was Pizza Friday and that, according to his father, meant ‘Family Time’. It seemed that with his youngest about to graduate college and move out Professor Membrane had decided to decree every Friday as Pizza Friday, and all family members were required to attend. While he and his father’s relationship had improved since Dib moved out there were still common disputes that arose often, most commonly the ‘real science’ lecture, which Dib didn’t think he could handle tonight. 

He rolled his eyes when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket already knowing who it was. Pulling out his phone he looked down at the text Gaz had sent. “Pizza.” Of course, what else? He groaned as he started the car and pulled out of the garage, trying to remember which Bloaty’s Pizza Hog was closest to his route. Settling for the one off Main Street, he quickly ran inside to pick up a to-go order. The line was long, and there were filthy children running around everywhere. He shivered when he saw one of the animatronics dressed like a walrus go by a table nearby. ‘Creepy.’ Once his order was ready he raced out the door as fast as his legs would carry him. When he finally reached the house he had barely had time to take three steps inside before Gaz appeared in front of him with a glare. Dib handed her the pizza quickly, before she had the chance to jerk it out of his hands, and he watched her glide into the kitchen to devour her prize. He sighed and followed her, hoping she would let him snag a few pieces for his own dinner. 

“How are classes going?” He asked hesitantly, while grabbing himself a plate. Gaz continued to glare but said nothing as he reached for the food. Satisfied that she did not protest, he quickly swiped his portion and joined her at the table. She snorted at his question, but said nothing more, instead choosing to stuff her mouth with pizza. ‘She seems positively giddy today’ he mused to himself. Feeling confident that his sister had decided to at least tolerate him for the night he continued. 

“Good then? That’s good. Things are going good at work too. The Board has put me on two new cases even.”

Gaz muttered a “whatever” under her breath as she continued to eat. Dib sat there with his sister as he talked about his day, leaving out his disappointing proposal review. His mood lifted as he discussed his work and all the findings in his research. Just when he told her about the latest readings his equipment had picked up Gaz gave him a scathing look. 

“They denied your proposal.” She stated as Dib stammered and withered under her look. 

“What are you talking about?” he asked cautiously.

“Your proposal review. You’ve been talking about for weeks and now you’re avoiding it, so you must have failed it.” His sister had never been much for talking, so Dib was stunned by how much his sister had decided to say. When he kept silent Gaz sat her slice down on her plate and glared. “You failed, accept it and move on or let yourself hold over your head for the rest of your days.”

“I am accepting it!” He argued back, slamming his hands on the table. Gaz seemed less than impressed by his outburst and after taking a deep breathe he slouched in his seat. “Those psychology classes certainly are paying off” he muttered under his breathe. With a frown they both went back to their pizza dinner in silence, waiting for their father to get home. When the man finally did arrive Dib was thankful that his father seemed preoccupied with work and family night soon ended with Dib and his father offering meaningless pleasantries before the head of the Membrane household was called back into the office for an emergency.

Despite the short visit with his father, it was late before Dib was finally able to collapse through the door of his one-bedroom apartment and drag himself into bed. Turning on his TV he laid there as Mysterious Mysteries played rerun after rerun and pulled out the device Darkbootie had handed him earlier to fiddle with. He soon lost himself to thoughts about aliens and meteors until finally drifting off to sleep, the device still clenched in his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't think of any notes right now. Add some later if I do. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 2: Dealing with a Sasquatch and a Disembodied Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dib gets more bad news.

“What do you mean this isn't my lab! Of course it is!” 

Dib argued as he tried to grapple his equipment from the offending agents' arms. Agent Sasquatch was tall bulky man with a crooked nose, who could often be seen wondering the hallways as he issued orders from the Council and generally just annoyed other agents with his brown-nosing attitude. Dib had been able to mostly avoid the man these past years by hiding away in his lab, but it seemed that that was no longer an option. As he and Agent Sasquatch continued to to wrestle back and forth other agents poked their heads out of their own labs to see the chaos happening. It did not take long for Agent Sasquatch to get annoyed with this delay to his mission and simply let go of the console. Dib fell back onto the floor with his arms wrapped fiercely around his prize and silently celebrated his victory. Agent Sasquatch merely shrugged and picked up another device before heading towards the door. After realizing Sasquatch planned just going after the rest of his equipment, Dib quickly followed after him.

“Exactly as I said Mothman, since your project has been discontinued your work-space has been reassigned.” 

Sasquatch was annoyed by the number of times he had repeat himself and did not hide his pleasure as he plopped the console he was carrying on the hallway floor, the resulting crash resounding down the hallway. This seemed to shake the surrounding lollygagging agents out of their stupor and they quickly retreated back into their labs, hoping that they themselves would never have to deal with such desecration to their work. Dib grieved for the lack of consideration of his console and prayed it was not harmed in the fall. 

“Oh come on, be careful! That's delicate equipment! And shouldn't I have received some kind of warning at least, like 24 hours notice or something?” 

Dib cautiously checked over the fallen console as he berated the other agent. Since it seemed like it survived its ordeal he scurried back inside in hopes to save the rest of his gear. 

“You seemed to have forgotten Mothman, these labs are property of the Swollen Eyeball and use of the labs by agents are by the Council's discretion. Permission can be revoked at anytime.” 

Sasquatch patiently explained while he tossed even more of the delicate and expensive junk into the hallway with a satisfied crack. Dib nearly screamed in frustration.

“Fine, alright I'll get it out of here. Just please let me do it, the way your tossing it around you're going to break it all.” 

Sasquatch stared at him for a moment, unsure if he could really trust the other agent. It was his job to make sure Mothman's old work-space was cleared out to make room for Hodag's equipment that was due to arrive tomorrow. He would get in a lot trouble if anything postponed Hodag's work longer than necessary. But then again, he really didn't want to move this junk around all day. 

“Alright, but I'll be back to check in a few hours. Be cleared out by then, or it's all trash.”

He waited until Agent Mothman nodded in agreement before walking away, headed towards the cafeteria for an early lunch. 

Dib waited until Agent Sasquatch was out of eyesight before throwing his hand in the air in a fit. It seemed he had really lost everything, even his lab. He realized, with a sigh of frustration, he really had no where to even store his equipment. His own place was too small, and the equipment was much too fragile to just put into storage. He could ask Darkbootie, but he knew the man's lab were already packed to the brim with his own work, there was no way he could fit Dib's in there as well. That left only one option, and he was not looking forward to that. First, though he needed to get his stuff out of here before Sasquatch got back and decided to just trash it all.

One by one he removed his monitors, consoles, and drives out of what had been his room for the last six years. It was enough to make him nauseous, but he was determined to earn it back. His room, his respect, he would get it all back -he just wasn't sure how. He lamented his dilemma as he carefully rearranged his cargo out in the hallway. So engrossed in his work he didn't notice the approaching smirking figure approaching him from behind. 

“Well look at this. An end of an era, huh Mothman?”

Damn. It was Bill, standing there with his trademark trench coat and sunglasses.

“Now is not the time Bill.”

Dib avoided Bill's grinning face as he ducked back into the lab to grab what was left of his equipment and grimaced when he saw how much was still left. 

“Oh come on Dibbers. I'm just here, out of the kindness and generosity of my heart, to offer you my services." Bill's smirk widened at Dib's pause in skepticism. 

“Uh Huh?”

“I'm here to help Mothman! Didn't you here that Hodag desperately needs this space for his fairy circle research? Big stuff, seems he thinks combining different species of mushrooms might be the key to create an opening to the fairy dimension.”

Bill seemed barely able to contain his laughter at Dib's deadpanned look. Dib stomped away determined to ignore Bill, but his own frustrations were winning over his determination. 

“So what, they're going to use my lab to grow mushrooms?”

“Oh yes, isn't it exciting?”

Bill said, still stifling his joy at Dib's predicament. Dib took in a deep breathe to contain himself as he continued to stomp around the lab. His work scrapped for mushrooms, someone out there really hated him. 

“You've got to be kidding me” Dib muttered as he tried to lift another monitor, though it seemed this one was much heavier than the last and he was hardly able to lift it from the desk. Bill enjoyed himself for a few moments to watch Dib's struggle before he walked over to grab the monitor from Dib's hands to carry it out into the hallway. 

“Seriously Mothman, this was giving you problems? It's nothing!” Bill bragged as he placed the monitor with the rest before going back inside to grab another. "You're going to need to move a lot faster to get out in time for Hodag to move in."

“Oh shut up” Dib grumbled as he grabbed another console, which was noticeably smaller than the monitor Bill had. "How did you find out about Hodag anyways?"

"I have my ways Mothman," Bill said grabbing a monitor. “But back to what I was saying; how am I supposed to work with someone how can't even handle this? All those years in the lab gave you noodle arms.”

“Bill, please don't remind me we're working together.”

“Oh don't be like that, we're going to have fun. Idea! To help your pathetic self, I will personally oversee your training regimen. Can't have your noodle arms interfering with the mission, you're in the field now!” Bill announced with flourish as he stacked another console to the pile. 

Dib almost dropped the device he was carrying in horror. Field work? Training? WITH BILL?!?! Nononono. It didn't help that the gleam in Bill's eyes told him this would be more than the simple physical test he had done years ago to pass to full-agent status. 

“That's okay Bill, that's not-” 

“No problem at all partner.” Bill interrupted. “I'll see you bright an early Monday at, let's say 5am?”

“5 AM?!”

“You're right, let's make it 4:30!" Bill continued before Dib could interrupt. "Well Mothman I better get going. I'll tell the higher ups about your new training, so no worries about that. Have fun finding a new home for all your junk.” 

With a wave Bill disappeared down the hall, that evil look still plastered across his face. Dib stood in a daze for several minutes, still unsure what had happened. It wasn't until another agent walked past and almost tripped on one of his screens that he shook off his shock. What the hell? Did he seriously just get tricked by Bill? This was building up to not be his week. At least his old lab was cleared out now from Bill's help, now all he needed was somewhere to put it all. With a sigh he dug his phone out of his pocket and hoped Dad wasn't in one of his moods.

**Author's Note:**

> Information:  
> SETI: ‘Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence’ is a non-profit institution dedicated to search the universe for life. They use sensors that covert electromagnetic radiation into audible sounds. Check it out, it’s really interesting stuff!  
> ETL: Extraterrestrial Life 
> 
>  
> 
> AN: This is an old story I'm trying to get back into. It is an Alternative Universe story which features Dib as an adult in his early 20s who is an agent at the Swollen Eyeball. The series never happened in this story. It will be a long story, and even though it is marked with slash pairings it won't be happening for a while. Romance will not be the focal point, but it will be featured. I’ve read through this probably a hundred times now, but chances are I still missed something. If you catch a mistake, please let me know! Thank you for reading!


End file.
